George Zimmerman, After the Shooting

In just a week, the investigations—picked up by state and federal officials last Monday—into Trayvon Martin’s death are moving beyond the inert primary investigation by the Sanford, Florida police department.

Late Wednesday, ABC News uncovered a video that shows George Zimmerman with Sanford police officers just after he shot and killed Martin a month ago. Zimmerman did not appear to have observable injuries—neither on his nose nor on the back of his head—which is distinctly at odds with the statement that Zimmerman gave and the account that the Sanford police initially released. On Tuesday, we learned that the lead investigator on the case, Chris Serino, filed an affidavit on the night of the shooting, declaring that he was not convinced by Zimmerman’s account, and which recommended that Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter. Still, although the revived investigations into Martin’s tragic death are underway, the legal case against George Zimmerman still needs to be made.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, at The Atlantic, who has followed this case thoughtfully, quotes a “former homicide prosecutor in Florida” as saying, “What prosecutors believe is not nearly as important as what they can prove.” Coates’s source continues,

Under the events he allegedly described to the police, the prosecution is going to need some strong evidence that Zimmerman is lying, not about small details but about the essence of the fatal encounter, if they wish to charge him. That could come from forensic evidence or the 911 calls, but short of that, Zimmerman will be presumed innocent.

Without sufficient evidence to the contrary, Serino’s belief might end up holding as much weight as Joe Oliver’s—a friend of Zimmerman’s, who called him, “a kind, gentle, giving, and caring individual—one who I trusted with my own child.”

Last night, as David Remnick writes, Bruce Springsteen dedicated a song to Martin; last week, President Obama imagined him as his own child. William Finnegan described the way, after an initial silence in which Martin’s death “nearly went down the memory hole,” that the case has generated more and more attention—and anger. (We’ve been following it at News Desk.)

If Zimmerman is never convicted of anything, will the outpouring of public interest in the case have mattered? Just as it’s too early to know how Zimmerman will fare as the investigations continue, we can’t yet know if the outrage against racial profiling or stand-your-ground laws will lead to meaningful change. Facing the strong financial support of such laws by the National Rifle Association—the hill may be steep. At the moment, though, the injustice in the Martin case appears great enough to make the climb worth it.